site.btaUPDATED Interior Ministry to Guard All Local Units of State Agency for Refugees

The Interior Ministry will guard all territorial divisions of the State Agency for Refugees, under amendments to the Ministry of Interior Act that Bulgaria’s Parliament passed conclusively on Thursday without a preliminary debate.  The vote was 183 in favour and one abstention by an MP of Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria.

The revisions were moved by Boyko Borissov, Anna Aleksandrova, Raya Nazaryan and Temenuzhka Petkova MPs of GERB-UDF and Delyan Peevski, Jordan Tzonev, Hamid Hamid and Erten Anisova MPs of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.

The legislature also passed on second reading clauses amending the Administration Act, increasing the full-time staff of the Border Police by 1,264 posts for physical protection of the refugee centre and strengthening border protection. The movers specified that this increase is needed for the normal functioning of all structural units of the General Directorate.

Earlier this month, police presence in central Sofia was beefed up after an incident between young Bulgarians and foreigners in Vitosha Blvd.